Orioles can't conquer Crochet in shutout loss to Red Sox (updated)

The Orioles love that their offense can go on a home run binge, as it did in record-setting fashion on Opening Day, or be content to keep the line moving. Baseballs sail into the seats or tear through the alleys. They are anything but one-dimensional.

They just need to level out rather than ride the highs and lows. Consistency is a work in progress.

Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet held them down tonight with eight shutout innings in a 3-0 win over the Orioles before an announced, chilled crowd of 18,146 at Camden Yards.

Crochet was making his second start with the Red Sox and his first since signing a six-year, $170 million extension. He surrendered only four hits among his 102 pitches and struck out eight. Aroldis Chapman earned the save.

Manager Brandon Hyde had described a game against Crochet as “quite a challenge” and it was too much for his club.

“It’s like the (Chris) Sale angle but more physical,” Hyde said. “He’s getting paid. It’s an upper-90s fastball and we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Crochet appeared to be done after throwing 92 pitches through the seventh, with 11 batters in a row retired, but he returned for the eighth and Ramón Urías singled. A fly ball and double play would be the finishing touches.

"It’s pretty similar to what we saw last year in Chicago," Hyde said. "We didn’t have a whole much offense that afternoon there. Just tip your hat. That’s outstanding stuff. Four pitches he throws for strikes with tempo, plus stuff, crossfire, physical. It’s a tough at-bat."

“His velo early in the season is a couple miles lower, but whatever," said Ramón Laureano. "He’s still a presence there, and his cutter, which is like a slider, it’s a little turbo there that he has, just got to find a way to lay off those things. That’s what he showed with eight righties in the lineup. You got to tip your cap to him at the same time.”

The Orioles have scored 12, two, nine, one, eight and zero runs. Keeping in step, they’ve alternated wins and losses and returned to .500 tonight.

“When you have a No. 1 on the mound, you have to battle, you know?" Laureano said. "We know our lineup, whatever righty/lefty lineup they put, we know that we can slug, how everybody’s been saying, and do damage. But sometimes we need to play a little small ball, go the other way, take a walk, take a good at-bat, get the rhythm going for the next guy and things like that. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

Zach Eflin has worked six innings in both starts. He allowed three runs and eight hits tonight, with no walks and five strikeouts. Sixty of Eflin’s 87 pitches were strikes.

"I felt like I was commanding the ball pretty well," he said. "They came out aggressive, they came out swinging. I was able to get through three, four pretty quick, and then, it kind of caught up to me a little bit. They were putting some better swings on it, getting more of the barrel. Kind of a tough day, but show up tomorrow and win the series."

Eflin was pounding the strike zone early but couldn’t get much support, and the Red Sox scored twice in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. Rafael Devers was 0-for-21 before his two-out, RBI double to right field. Tyler O’Neill tried for the out at second and Ceddanne Rafaela, whose single earlier scored Kristian Campbell, hustled home from first.

Catcher Gary Sánchez had to leap for Jorge Mateo’s high throw and couldn’t apply the tag before Rafaela had slid across the plate.

Eflin retired the side in order on 10 pitches in the first, struck out Triston Casas to begin the second and surrendered a home run to Trevor Story on a 79.1 mph sweeper. The ball traveled 394 feet to left field, clearing the modified wall and falling just short of the Bird Bath sign.

The third inning consisted of only 12 pitches and resulted in three ground balls. Eflin had thrown 25 of 34 for strikes.

Alex Bregman’s ground ball reached left field to lead off the fourth and Eflin picked him off. Had to keep the game moving at a swift pace. And it was an important play because Story singled with two outs. But a 24-pitch fifth put the Orioles in a deeper hole.

"Eflin threw the ball great," Hyde said. "Ef does what he normally does. He gives us a chance to win every time out. He did a great job mixing speeds. Just kind of that one pitch to Story got a little bit too much of the plate. I’m really satisfied with how he threw the ball. He’s off to a good start this year."

The defense tried to keep Eflin in the game. Second baseman Jordan Westburg made a diving catch and throw to rob Bregman and end the fifth, Cedric Mullins made a diving catch of Casas’ shallow fly ball leading off the sixth, and Laureano fielded Story’s single in left center on the next play and threw him out at second.

"It was incredible," Eflin said. "I definitely thought the one to Cedric late in the game was going to fall, and then he Superman caught it. And then Story got another base hit off me and tried to stretch it into a double and I was kind of thinking, ‘Ramón’s got a rocket out there,’ and he just let it eat and got the guy at second. I mean, it completely changes the game for me, personally, and obviously, the team, when one out, runner on second or two outs with nobody on, it’s a completely different ballgame there. So hats off to those guys for continuing to play hard late in the game like that."

Crochet also retired the side in order on 10 pitches in the first, and he struck out Westburg and O’Neill. Laureano singled in the second and Urías drew a two-out walk, but Mateo bounced into a force.

The Orioles ran into a double play in the third. Westburg singled with one out, broke for second base and easily was doubled up at first on Adley Rutschman’s liner to right. Crochet retired 11 straight after Ryan Mountcastle’s infield single in the fourth, and 13 of 14 after Mullins grounded into a 5-6-3 double play to end the eighth.

"He pitched really well," Eflin said. "There’s no denying that. But at the end of the day, it’s the game of baseball. We play 162 games and they’re not all going to go in our favor. He pitched really well tonight, and they put some good swings on that scored enough runs to win the game."

Bryan Baker retired the Red Sox in order in the seventh and has tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts. Gregory Soto allowed two singles and struck out three in a scoreless eighth. Devers singled to go 2-for-4.

Cionel Pérez walked the bases loaded in the ninth and got a double play.

* The Royals are starting Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Kris Bubic for the weekend series against the Orioles in Kansas City. The Orioles haven’t listed their starters, but the current order would bring Dean Kremer, Tomoyuki Sugano and Cade Povich into the series.

* Cameron Weston made his Triple-A debut tonight and allowed one run and one hit with six strikeouts in four innings. Charlotte’s Chase Meidroth homered in the first.

Gunnar Henderson was 0-for-3 before a rain delay.